A variety of medical procedures are performed to provide support to portions of a body of a patient. For example, some medical procedures are performed to treat various female pelvic dysfunctions, including procedures to treat urinary incontinence, and correcting various prolapse conditions such as uterine prolapse, cystoceles, rectoceles, and vaginal vault prolapse.
Some such medical procedures include placing a support member or implant into the body of the patient such that the support member or implant provides support to a portion of the body of the patient. Specifically, in some medical procedures, the support member or implant may be fixed or coupled to the body of the patient at various locations within the body of the patient and a support portion of the support member or implant may be placed beneath the portion of the body to be supported. For instance, a patch of prosthetic material, such as a mesh material, may be attached to a layer (e.g., a thin layer) of tissues in the body of the patient such as a wall of an organ, for example, the vaginal wall. In some cases, a second portion of the mesh material may be attached to a layer of muscle or ligament on top of a bone such as, for example, the sacrum.
In some known medical procedures, fixation devices are used to fix or couple portions of the support member to portions of the body of the patient. A need exists for fixation devices that effectively retain a support member in place within a body of a patient and control a depth of penetration of the devices. A need also exists for a tool for effectively placing such fixation devices inside the body of the patient.